Domesticated pets are often confined to the home by their owners, and therefore some provision must be made to receive their natural excrement so that the home is not soiled. Domesticated cats in particular are often provided with litter boxes for this purpose; however, some owners object to the litter or sand being tracked into the rest of the house on the feet of the pets. As used herein, sand refers to sand, cat litter, or other material useful for pet waste collection. Some solutions to these problems have been proposed in the past. Japanese Application (Publication No. 2002-78428) discloses a pet toilet comprising an outer container having a top opening, inner container, a mesh structure at the center on its bottom to be installed inside the outer container, and a cover having a hole for excretion at the center, to be mounted on the top opening of the inner container. This 2002 Japanese application asserts that using the pet toilet disclosed, a cat's feet are not stained with sand because the cat stands on the cover for excretion.
Behaviorally, however, a cat will typically dig sand before and after excretion. Accordingly, a cat standing on the cover will extend its paw into the sand in the inner container through the hole for excretion and dig the sand. Accordingly, the cat's paw will catch sand, and the sand will also likely be transferred onto the cover. If sand is transferred onto the cover, the cat can step in it and likely track it into the room. The application therefore discloses that it is necessary not to allow any sand to remain on the cover. In order to get rid of this problem, the sand remaining on the cover is to be returned to the sandbox by tilting the cover or by using a brush (see the 2002 Application, paragraph 0032). To tilt the cover, however, the cover needs to be removed, which is troublesome. It is also troublesome if the sand needs to be brushed back into the sandbox upon each excretion.
In addition, the cover needs to be removed each time the dung and urine discharged in the inner container is cleared or sand is replaced, and the removed cover is normally placed on the floor of the room on that occasion. This, however, causes the sand collected on the cover to spill and foul the room.
Therefore, there is a need for a device which will further reduce or eliminate sand or litter from being tracked into a room after pet defecation or urination.